The invention relates to a releasable connector assembly for a perforating gun.
It is often desirable to automatically disconnect a perforating gun from a string after detonation of the perforating gun. This is especially true in permanent completions where no additional wireline or string runs are desired. The automatic disconnection of the perforating gun may be desirable because in certain formations, an inflow of formation fluids follow detonation and cause the perforating gun to "sand up" and become stuck in the casing. Many such automatic releases are available from various manufacturers. A difficulty with some of these above-described arrangements may be that the perforating gun falls to the bottom of the well after detonation, and thus, the perforating gun is not recoverable.
To address this problem, some perforating gun strings may include modular perforating gun sections that automatically disconnect in a manner that allow the sections to be retrieved from the well after detonation. However, a problem with this approach is that the detonation of downhole explosives and/or the inrush of well fluid may propel the disconnected sections up the wellbore and damage or "blow up" the well.
Thus, there exists a continuing need for a perforating system having sections that automatically disconnect after detonation and do not pose a danger to the well after disconnection.